Archives for February 1, 2020

Devotion

1 What wondrous love is this,
O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse
for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

2 When I was sinking down,
sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down
beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown
for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

3 To God and to the Lamb
I will sing, I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb,
who is the great I AM,
while millions join the theme,
I will sing, I will sing,
while millions join the theme, I will sing.

4 And when from death I'm free,
I'll sing on, I'll sing on;
and when from death I'm free, I'll sing on;
and when from death I'm free,
I'll sing God's love for me,
and through eternity
I'll sing on, I'll sing on;
and through eternity I'll sing on.

Text: North American folk hymn, 19th cent., alt.

This week we have read that we are God's people not because we are or do something exceptional. In fact, we are just the opposite — flawed and broken. In our lowest moments we may be surprised that anybody, much less God, loves us enough to stand by us, forgive us, and get us out the door to do God's work. And yet God persists in showing us steadfast love, because God trusts that such love has the power to enable us to do the right thing.

Today's hymn comes from Southern Harmony, a hymnal from the American Colonial era Shaped Note or Sacred Harp tradition, which had migrated to the Southeast by the 1800s. Sacred Harp is an a cappella (unaccompanied) style of song that is plain, blunt, and almost raw. This hymn effectively delivers the hymn writer's message of astonishment: What wondrous love is this, Lord, that I am yours, and you walk with me in this life and the next, despite my flaws?